SD housing market nightmare (San Diego: apartment, big house, transfer)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

I'm GenX myself and I think this is a really snarky and condescending comment. TUITION WAS MUCH CHEAPER BACK IN THE 1980S IN INFLATION ADJUSTED TERMS. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS!

It's really annoying when people act like paying for college in the 1980s compared to today is an apples to apples comparison when anyone with a brain who uses it knows they're 2 completely different animals.

Don't forget that many were only able to go to college or trade school via their military benefits...

We recently hired two new Registered Nurses and both young ladies used the GI Bill to pay for nursing school... they didn't come from money and enlisted right out of High School...

One of the Doctors has a son attending Stanford on full academic scholarship... not that his Dad couldn't pay for Stanford... then the Pfizer rep got a full ride athletic scholarship to the University of Hawaii... heck... I know a person that received a scholarship for being Portuguese and applying.

If a person really wants a college degree... there is more than one way to get there.

Of course another way for a lot of us not so gifted is to take your first two years at community college and transfer with maximum credits while working your way through school even if it takes 5 years and you walk away with a double major...

What I really find expensive is kids today want to go off to school... the room and board can equal or exceed college tuition and books... and parents more than willing to get them out of the house and even rack up tons of student debt... maybe if you are going to be a Doctor and then land a job where the Hospital will retire a portion of your student debt each year you work there... happened to a Doctor I know that went to work for Kaiser.

California is blessed with many institutions of higher learning... pay your parents room and board and go to school locally.

[sdurbanite]

I'm always more interested in the price for square foot. This one is Del Mar is the highest found in the area at $6,461! Check out the street view with an alley entrance

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/...t/pid_8954802/

[tickyul]

The RE market in the USA is anything but free. The Fedgov has a vested interest in artificially inflating housing prices......they have all sorts of "programs" to inflate the price of a home.

Oh yeah, RPAC (Realtors PAC) and MORPAC (Mortgage Bankers PAC) are very heavy hitters.....lots of contacts in all the right places.

San Diego is not alone is seeing yet another screaming rise in home prices. When an economy is based on reckless spending and financial bubbles, this is what you get.

[Ultrarunner]

I do agree... the vested interest in keeping things afloat doesn't work well when prices fall...

People walk away from commitments, revenue drops, infrastructure projects cancelled, less people are employed... well, it's the whole downward spiral.

I've read headlines complaining about low home prices and asking when the plummet will stop and the same newspapers bemoan high prices and affordability... such it the reality.

[John7777]

Originally Posted by InchingWest

Move to the Midwest. I'm looking into it.

I know it's going to be hard to "abandon" good long term friends, but most "millennials" like myself just can't realistically afford housing on the coasts, and I doubt in many parts of Cali it's not affordable for anyone save the top 10% of earners. Who wants to make some landlord rich for the rest of their lives while accumulating nothing? I know I sure don't.

I have savings, and it's all ready for a down payment (or five) on a house. The only thing holding me back from getting a loan for anything more than a craphole in a sketchy area (which is anything less than a quarter mil here) is income. Credit at last report was 777.333 averaged out.

How did we allow our country to get into this situation? Something tell me the "markets" aren't really free anymore, and that all these low interest rates only make prices artificially higher than they'd otherwise be and at the same time cuts a lot of decent borrowers out of the market who are edged out by hedge fund, aka "institutional" buyers as well as wealthy cash buyers from overseas.

I'm sure you must know that, in much of the country, especially in the Midwest, it's possible to buy a nice new home for under $300K. And some are much cheaper than that. And, depending on the location, it shouldn't be too hard to find a decent job.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

I'm GenX myself and I think this is a really snarky and condescending comment. TUITION WAS MUCH CHEAPER BACK IN THE 1980S IN INFLATION ADJUSTED TERMS. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS!

It's really annoying when people act like paying for college in the 1980s compared to today is an apples to apples comparison when anyone with a brain who uses it knows they're 2 completely different animals.

Do people need to wake up and ditch the majors that aren't marketable? Yes.

Do the high priced private schools need to go (assuming no significant scholarships)? Yes.

Do they need to be strategic and focused and get the most education for the cheapest price? Yes.

But the bottom line is today's 18 year old needs to be MUCH MORE STRATEGIC than the 18 year old of 1985. How many 18 year olds think that strategically? Not too many. And not too many did in 1985, either. It's just 1985's 18 year olds had a lot more slack if they screwed up by making one or more of the above mistakes.

California has some of the cheapest in State tuition rates in the Country. ANYONE can go through 2 years of JC then transfer to a 4 year school without borrowing money. It's called a job.


My kids, nieces and nephews are all doing it. They are smart but they aren't that smart. It's not like working and going to a cheaper school is some kind of secret.

But hey, if someone wants to borrow what is the equivalent of a second mortgage have at it. And hey, let's take it one step further. Let's go on the net and complain about me making poor choices by going into massive debt

Funny how the complainers speak that way on an anon board but would never do it on FB or Twitter etc.

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by John7777

I'm sure you must know that, in much of the country, especially in the Midwest, it's possible to buy a nice new home for under $300K. And some are much cheaper than that. And, depending on the location, it shouldn't be too hard to find a decent job.

+100 to this. I keep mentioning this but it seems like it falls on deaf ears. $300K gets you a REALLY NICE house. You can easily get down to $200-250K. Or even less if you're willing to live in a smaller town that is within 15-20 mins driving distance of a big town. And at least some of these cities have recession resistant job markets.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by someguy10

+100 to this. I keep mentioning this but it seems like it falls on deaf ears. $300K gets you a REALLY NICE house. You can easily get down to $200-250K. Or even less if you're willing to live in a smaller town that is within 15-20 mins driving distance of a big town. And at least some of these cities have recession resistant job markets.

But hey the weather isn't as nice. SD is filled with people who made poor choices, they just don't want to admit it. There are certain places like SV/SF or NYC or even LA where many people go to "make it" or hope to make it big. Wall Street, Acting, writing, modeling, art, Technology, etc are all filled with dreamers. And some do make it, so thats why people keep coming. Nobody really comes to SD to "make it" so paying an absurd amount of money just for the weather is a reason a lot of people have to defend their choices. And when it's 75 in NY this week, that choice loses some luster.

It's just a bad business decision to turn down a $250K house because it's in Des Moines or Dallas and instead pay like $1500 per month and have a roommate for SD. And really have no future plans or dreams of being the next unicorn or star. That's SD in a nutshell. It really is all about the weather for many many many people and very little else.

[someguy10]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

But hey the weather isn't as nice. SD is filled with people who made poor choices, they just don't want to admit it. There are certain places like SV/SF or NYC or even LA where many people go to "make it" or hope to make it big. Wall Street, Acting, writing, modeling, art, Technology, etc are all filled with dreamers. And some do make it, so thats why people keep coming. Nobody really comes to SD to "make it" so paying an absurd amount of money just for the weather is a reason a lot of people have to defend their choices. And when it's 75 in NY this week, that choice loses some luster.

It's just a bad business decision to turn down a $250K house because it's in Des Moines or Dallas and instead pay like $1500 per month and have a roommate for SD. And really have no future plans or dreams of being the next unicorn or star. That's SD in a nutshell. It really is all about the weather for many many many people and very little else.

I'm a big believer in the idea that one size doesn't fit all. What qualifies as "worth it" for anything, including the lifestyle San Diego's weather affords, is a personal decision. I post to try to help present both sides of the equation and generally support whatever answer someone has to the particular question of "is SD worth it". At least until a decision gets IMO into the range of recklessly putting others at risk or likely to end in those who weren't reckless having to support those who were.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by someguy10

I'm a big believer in the idea that one size doesn't fit all. What qualifies as "worth it" for anything, including the lifestyle San Diego's weather affords, is a personal decision. I post to try to help present both sides of the equation and generally support whatever answer someone has to the particular question of "is SD worth it". At least until a decision gets IMO into the range of recklessly putting others at risk or likely to end in those who weren't reckless having to support those who were.

Typically for those in their 20's and 30's So Cal is worth the COL of living and crowding. Those in their 40's and 50's begin to question it as they have done it all and as kids grow up they find less interest in the frantic life of So Cal. By the time they are well into their 50's and 60's they want out of the hectic traffic, high costs and fees, and excessive regulations; unless they are among the few with really high paying jobs. They can usually afford to move and do. Population growth in CA is based on birth and foreign immigration (legal and illegal) and not really on people moving from other States. Yes many do, but more move out.The weather is great, but after a while there are other far more important things.